Fountain Events in 2012

December 14, 2012 | Time: | Location: | Category: General

Fountain Events in 2012

The year started with a commission in the UK to design a new fountain with three fish spouting water I had never made a fish fountain before and the nearest thing was a snake fountain made for GlaxoSmithKline in 2000. In order to get the fish to look realistic I decided to make them with a copper skeleton covered with copper scales. I cut the curve of each scale by hand and brazed them in strips round the skeleton, to overlap. I made the head and tail by beating them out of copper sheet. Th overall result worked well, with the fish looking alive, as they spouted water over each other. The wet scales showed wonderful variations of red/gold colours.Later in the year I designed another fish fountain to exhibit on my stand at the Hampton Court Show. This one had a more dynamic shape of two intertwining Japanese carp. The water spout from each fish was designed to collapse in mid air to shower him with drops of water, again showing wonderful colours and making an interesting splashing sound.There were two interesting commissions for fountains to go abroad. The first was for a large Catalpa Tree to go on a terrace overlooking sea in Mallorca. I love making fountains inspired by this tree because it gives you so much freedom to explore curving sinuous branches. The large heart-shaped leaves are a pleasure to make; after cutting and curving their basic shape, you hammer the intricate veining into them with steel chisels. The overall form of the tree is quite complicated, but it works very well as you see it with all the leaves streaming or dripping water, which shines in the sunlight.

The second commission was for a tall Acer Palmatum tree fountain, designed for a Mediterranean garden near Albi in the South of France. This tree is another of my favourites, with its graceful branches and slender finger-shaped leaves which droop downwards. The fountain was designed so that water drips or streams from the fingers of each leaf and falls to the pond below with a gentle sound like rainfall. It is quite heavy and awkward to set up, but my son Garth, who lives near Limoux, further South came to help. He is a painter and does wonderful drawings, but he worked with me for a while and has made beautiful fountains.